A Day in Cardiff
by IantojJackh
Summary: Follow up to A Day in Glasgow. Jack returns to Cardiff two years after Ianto's death with his and Ianto's son and finds that people are not happy to see him. Will they believe him about where the child came from?
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: A Day in Cardiff (1/5)

**Author**: **iantojjackh**

**Rating**: PG-13

**Summary**: Follow up to A Day in Glasgow. Jack returns to Cardiff two years after Ianto's death with his and Ianto's son and finds that people are not happy to see him. Will they believe him about where the child came from?

**Characters**: Jack, Gwen, Rhys, Rhiannon

**Pairings**: Jack/Ianto (past), Gwen/Rhys

**Word Count**: 785

**Spoilers**: CoE compliant, but MD never happened

**Warning**: Angst and grief

**Beta**: SoR who still betas stuff for me on occasion even if he's never watched an episode of TW

**Notes**: Written for the Grief prompt at**hc_bingo**.

* * *

**A Day in Cardiff**

_**Chapter 1: Jack, Ianto and Ianto**_

Jack spent the first hour crying, unable to speak. All the emotion he had kept bottled up spilled over into a torrent of tears. The young toddler fussed in his arms the entire time, feeling his father's distress.

"Dada," the small boy reached out for Jack's hand and buried his face into his father's armpit.

"I'm so sorry, Ianto," the words barely came out through cracked emotion. "I'm sorry it took me two years to come back." Two years to the day. "I thought staying away would make it hurt less, but it hasn't. I miss you so much. So very, very much. I never thought I could miss someone this much. Just listen to me babble on like some idiot whose gone soft. I can just see you rolling your eyes at me," Jack reached his free hand out to touch the cold marble gravestone.

"I never got to tell you that I love you. Being around as long as I have I thought not saying those words made it easier when itcame time to say goodbye, but not with you. It made it much worse. I really meant it when I said I could never forget you. Because you touched me in a way no one else ever has or ever will. I've come across many species that believed in soul mates, though they all had different names for it. I always laughed at the idea of it. I mean, seriously, one soul out there in this vast world meant for only you. Sounds ridiculous, right? Then I lost you and it didn't sound so crazy." Jack looked around to make sure no one was able to hear him.

"Don't you look at me like that. You look like him," Jack looked at his son who giggled and made a funny face. The child began to entertain himself with a small toy and Jack turned his attention back to his soul mate's grave.

"There was a short time I considered retconning myself to forget you so I would not have to feel the emptiness that I felt every day you were not here. The pain...it was so bad that I was willing to forget the greatest love of my life. It took losing you to see that's what you were...what you are. Killing myself is not an option, but then two months after everything I found a reason to live again. No, it's not what you are thinking. You always thought I was joking that I could get pregnant. Stop rolling your eyes. I can feel you rolling them. Ianto, I want you to meet my...your...our son. That's right...OUR SON, Ianto. He's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Jack paused to catch his breath and marvel at the most amazing and precious thing he had ever known: his son who was playing with the buttons on his greatcoat.

"Good thing we told Rhys we'd look after the beans, huh? I named him after you and he looks nothing like me. He's all you. It's only a matter of time before he starts yelling at me for making the coffee wrong. I think he's got your eye roll down already. You'd be so amazed by him. I sure am. This is the first time I'm doing this, the parenting thing all the way. It's just going to be me and him. I really don't know what to say to your sister. Do I say anything at all? I don't even know if you told her about us. Somehow I think going up to her and telling her I'm in love with your brother and this is our son will get me knocked out for sure."

Jack saw little Ianto was starting to fuss uncontrollably and he had to wrap up this visit soon. "The little one is starting to get restless, but he is going to know who you are. Once he is old enough to understand I'm going to tell him the life story of Ianto Jones. Keeping it safe for a child's ears. He doesn't need to know about our kinkier side." Jack slowly stood up and looked up at the clear sky, "If you are up there, looking down, I hope that I'm making you proud of us. I love you. Always will." Without a further word, Jack left the cemetery and headed back to his car...well Ianto's old car where he would drive to Ianto's old flat where he had been staying the last week since his return to Cardiff. He put on a pair of shades to cover the fact he had spent the better part of an hour and half crying.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title**: A Day in Cardiff (2/5)

**Author**: **iantojjackh**

**Rating**: PG-13

**Summary**: Follow up to A Day in Glasgow. Jack returns to Cardiff two years after Ianto's death with his and Ianto's son and finds that people are not happy to see him. Will they believe him about the boy's linage?

**Characters**: Jack, Gwen, Rhys, Rhiannon

**Pairings**: Jack/Ianto (past), Gwen/Rhys

**Word Count**: 1061

**Spoilers**: CoE compliant, but MD never happened

**Warning**: Angst and grief

**Beta**: SoR who still betas stuff for me on occasion even if he's never watched an episode of TW

**Notes**: Written for the Grief prompt at **hc_bingo**.

* * *

**Chapter 2- Rhiannon and Gwen **

Rhiannon turned the car off and sighed as she looked over at Gwen in the passenger seat. This had become their bi-monthly ritual; visiting Ianto's grave followed by lunch. Today's visit was extra bittersweet because it was the second anniversary of the Welshman's death. "Some days it still really hurts. I thought when Ianto moved back to Cardiff that we could become close again, but that bloody job always kept him busy. So many times he made plans to come visit only to cancel. You lot really weren't civil servants, were you?" Usually the women avoided talking about the work that led to her brother's death.

Gwen bit her lip and shook her head. "No."

"What did you do? Was that alien stuff normal for you?"

"Yes," Gwen nodded. Now was the time to let Rhiannon know more than she did. She deserved to know, but it was never bought up. Gwen knew the questions were always there and they just needed to be asked. "There is a rift of space and time that runs through the middle of Cardiff and all kinds of stuff slips through on occasion or at least it used to. It was up to us to make sure it did not end up in the wrong hands."

"Bollocks," Rhiannon slapped the steering wheel and immediately regretted it. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it," she took several deep breaths and stared out the window. "The other day I was in town and I ran into this bloke with his son and boy looked exactly like Ianto when he was a baby and I thought I even heard him call the boy Ianto. Thought I was losing it. Wishful thinking, perhaps. He never got a chance to have a family. I'm not sure if that's something he wanted. Did that Jack person ever really care for Ianto? He never came to the funeral. Have you heard from him in the last two years?"

Gwen shook her head, "No." And she was upset by that too. A few months after Ianto died, she was offered to view the footage from Thames House, but she could not bring herself to watch. "Something broke inside of Jack that day. I think that's why he stays away. It's like he doesn't want to deal with it." Gwen hoped that was the reason and she knew he had the resources to vanish.

"That is selfish of him. Does he think he's the only one who misses Ianto?" The Jack talk was long overdue and it was going to happen now.

Gwen was nervous because she didn't know what to say. There was nothing she could possibly say that would make the situation any better. "To be honest I don't know how seriously Jack and Ianto took their relationship. They tried to be as professional as they could be at work, but there were still the awkward moments of walking in on them at the office. Truth be told, I think that neither of them wanted to admit how serious things were getting..."

"That's him!"

Rhiannon's exclamation made Gwen jump. "Who?"

"The man from the other day," she had not expected to see him again. Rhiannon thought it could be an omen of sorts. What else could it be? It was the second anniversary of her brother's death and when she was going to visit his grave she sees the man who has a son who looks like her brother.

Gwen looked up just in time to see the man duck into the car and she went pale as a ghost. "Jack." Excitement coursed through her body, thinking Jack was finally coming home. Gwen leapt from the vehicle, but it was too late and the car sped off. "Damn't," she yelled. "That was Jack." It made sense that one of the first stops he'd make was to visit Ianto.

"But he had a kid with him. A young kid ," Rhiannon felt her blood begin to boil. If that man she ran into the other day was really Jack then next time she saw him Rhiannon was going to unleash all of her fury on him. If Ianto had survived it would only have been to have his heart broken realizing his lover had knocked up some poor woman.

Gwen's head was spinning with confusion over what just happened. "Jack doesn't have any children. Are you sure that it was Jack you saw?" Young children, at least.

"Well I saw him with one the other day. American accent and wears a long military type coat? Handsome as all hell to boot," the furious woman got out of the car.

"That's Jack," Gwen admitted reluctantly. If she did not know any better, she swore that had been Ianto's car he drove off in.

"So where has been all this time? Why come back now? Why today of all days? I'm going to kill him when I get my hands on him. And seriously how sick is he in the head to name his kid after Ianto?" Rhiannon had all this pent up anger over Jack and it was getting worse the more she thought she knew of the man. Even with Ianto gone, Rhiannon still wanted to protect her brother.

"I don't know. The last time I saw him he wanted me to make sure David and Mica were kept safe. I haven't heard from him since. I cannot begin to understand or know what he has been doing for two years." Gwen thought that if Jack had Ianto's car that there was a chance he was staying at his flat as well. She kept that thought to herself and would confront Jack and get answers before she decided if Rhiannon's rage needed to be bought down on him.

"I'm going to bloody track him down and make him sorry for ever hurting my brother." A sister protecting her baby brother was high on the list of types of women never to mess with.

Gwen just nodded. There were a few things she had to say to Jack Harkness when she found him. "Let's go see how Ianto is doing." They temporarily needed to put Jack on the back burner and remember why they were really at the cemetery on this day; to visit the man whose death left a huge hole in everyone's heart.


	3. Chapter 3

**Title**: A Day in Cardiff (3/5)  
**Author**: **iantojjackh**  
**Rating**: PG-13  
**Summary**: Follow up to A Day in Glasgow. Jack returns to Cardiff two years after Ianto's death with his and Ianto's son and finds that people are not happy to see him. Will they believe him about the boy's linage? **This chapter: **One of the angry Welshwomen confronts Jack.  
**Characters**: Jack, Gwen, Rhys, Rhiannon  
**Pairings**: Jack/Ianto (past), Gwen/Rhys  
**Word** **Count**: 1834  
**Spoilers**: CoE compliant, but MD never happened  
**Warning**: Angst and grief  
**Beta**: SoR who still betas stuff for me on occasion even if he's never watched an episode of TW  
**Notes**: Written for the Grief prompt at **hc_bingo**.

* * *

**_Chapter 3- An Angry Welshwoman Confronts Jack_**

After Gwen left Rhiannon and her family, she left a message for Rhys saying that something came up and she would be home a little later than expected. Eventually she found herself standing in front of the door of Ianto's flat. Gwen was not sure if Jack kept up with rent payments or let the lease lapse and some on else lived there now. She reached up and knocked loudly. "Jack, are you in there?"

A minute and there was no response and Gwen banged louder this time, "Jack Harkness if you are in there you better answer this bloody door." Finally Gwen heard the locks on the other side of the side of the door disengage and then the door open. "So it is true." There was no warm welcome once she saw the small boy in Jack's arms, fresh from a bath and wrapped only in a towel. The boy that is. Jack was fully dressed with the front of his shirt wet.

"Hello to you too, Gwen," Jack frowned at the welcome and then turned to his son in his arms, "Remind to tell you about Gwen too. Lots funny stories there. What's true?" The immortal was not a mind reader and had no idea what Gwen's vague statement meant.

"How could you? Where have you been all this time? Why come back today of all days? And come back to his flat and use his car? That's how I figured you were here. What kind of arrogant arse are you?" Gwen slapped Jack hard in his free shoulder.

Jack rolled his eyes and smiled at his son, "And Gwen jumps to conclusions all the time. She has no idea what she's talking about. Not that I know what she is talking about." He talked in a baby voice that made little Ianto laugh. "If she did she wouldn't be hitting me, now would she?" Jack now blew a raspberry at the boy. "Why don't you come in? I need to get my son dressed."

This was a side of Jack that Gwen did not miss, the patronising prat. "Did you ever care for Ianto? Or was it all for show? You obviously wasted no time in moving on."

"You did not just say that," Jack's temper flared as the insinuation. "I'll never stop loving him for your information. If you would shut up for five seconds, I can explain."

"What do you expect me to say? You've been gone for two years with no word. You come back to Cardiff and don't let anyone know. The other day you run into Ianto's sister who sees a young child who looks exactly like her brother and she heard you call him Ianto. Can you see how that's a little twisted? Naming someone else's kid after your dead boyfriend." Gwen was floored when Jack started to laugh, but she sensed anger and sadness behind his expression too. "What is so funny?"

"Fifty-first century human reproduction. You people have no idea."

"What about it?" It was easy to forget sometimes that Jack was originally from so far in the future. And what bearing could it have on why he had a Ianto clone named Ianto. He didn't clone him, did he?

"You don't always need a woman to conceive and have a baby and I'm not talking about artificial insemination. Evolution and its mysteries. And correct me if I am wrong, but isn't it also an Earth custom to name a child after one of their parents? Especially if said parent is dead, never getting to know of their child's existence. Yes, he looks like Ianto and has his name because this is his son too." Jack saw the confused look on Gwen's face, "You people and your quaint labels. There is one day every year a male from my time can get pregnant. Yes, this beautiful little boy is mine and Ianto's son. One we conceived together. A son I never got the chance to tell him about. Naming our son after him was one of the best ways I thought to honour his memory. Ianto has been the only thing that has kept me going the last two years."

Gwen was shocked into silence. "I'm sorry, Jack." It took almost a minute before she found her tongue. She had berated him over what she thought was him trampling over the memory of her lost friend while it was the exact opposite. It was the ultimate expression of just how much Jack and Ianto really loved each other. "But how? You were blown up." She could not think of a time that the duo would have had the time or place to conceive a child on the run.

"Same way you conceived your child. Did you have a boy or girl? They'd be about the same age as this little guy."

"A daughter, Anwen. I didn't mean how like that. Only the bomb showed up when you were scanned...Oi, not in the warehouse?"

Jack closed his eyes, remembering his last time with Ianto and a fond smile crossed his face. It was heated and rushed but at the same time an underlying tenderness was there as if both secretly knew it was their last time. "Rhys wouldn't stop complaining that we let the beans burn. If he only knew the real reason we were so distracted and cooking something much better," Jack started to walk toward the bedroom to get his son dressed.

"He is really beautiful, Jack," Gwen watched as Jack seemed in his element with Ianto. It amazed her how much of her deceased friend she saw in the boy and hardly any trace of Jack. "Do you plan on staying?" She knew Rhiannon, once explained the situation, would love to get to know her nephew.

Jack shrugged as he amused himself and Ianto while he dressed the boy. "I have plans to return to Glasgow in the morning. It's hard being here. Harder than I thought." Staying in Ianto's old flat was not the best of ideas. Too many memories good and bad had been stirred up.

So he had been in Scotland. "Wait, wasn't there..." And the scattered boxes around the flat backed up Jack's plans that he was not staying.

"That's why I went. Archie had the equipment I needed for pregnancy and delivery. Now the place has kind of grown on me." Jack picked up a now fully clothed Ianto. "Having him has given my life meaning again. I will do anything and I mean anything to protect my son. Even if that means disappearing again. Glasgow is our home now."

Gwen smiled and felt her heart swell. Parenthood really was becoming on Jack and he seemed really happy when around the boy. "Jack, you know he has family here too? Rhiannon deserves to know she has a nephew."

"I know, but does she really?" Jack hesitated. "I know why Ianto kept his distance most of the time from his family. She is not going to take my son away from me." Jack had a sense he was overreacting, but there was no such thing when it involved your child.

"Dada eat." Ianto reached up, poking Jack in the mouth with his tiny fingers.

Jack nodded and kissed the boy's hand. "Whatever you want, little one."

Gwen followed the men into the kitchen, where Jack started to prepare lunch for the boy. "How come you did not let me know you were back?" She did not hide her obvious hurt over the situation. "Would you have said anything if we didn't see you at the cemetery?"

Jack looked at Gwen and immediately saw the disappointment on her face. He then looked down. His silence was answer enough.

"Damn't, Jack. You don't have to do this alone. There are people here in Cardiff who care for you and Ianto. What is there in Glasgow?" Gwen questioned.

"I can't stay here. It doesn't feel right anymore." Jack replied, trying to hide the sadness in his eyes which was easy to do when his attention was turned toward his son. "Besides we have Archie. And Uncle Archie is funny isn't he?" Jack spoke in a voice that made Ianto laugh.

Gwen sighed in frustration as Jack avoided the issue at hand, "What about Rhiannon?"

"What about her?" Jack grumbled, not hiding his anger. "Did she suddenly start caring after Ianto died?"

"No, Jack. Family is family. You never stop caring. They might not have been close, but she misses Ianto. We all miss him, Jack. You aren't the only one." Gwen refused to back down.

"I never said I was," Jack fumed. "He died in my arms, Gwen. Just before he died, Ianto told me he loved me and I couldn't say it back. I knew he was dying and I could not give him that once bit of peace. Why couldn't I've just told him the truth? Instead I had to tell him at his grave." Jack knew coming back to Cardiff was a mistake. He could have had his conversation with Ianto anywhere, but there was something about having it at his grave that gave a small measure of closure. The biggest reason for coming back was to pick up some of Ianto's things so he could pass them onto their son when he was older.

"I think it's time you leave now. It's his nap time and I don't need you telling me who I should introduce my son to. If you are so insistent on telling Rhiannon about Ianto you can do it after we are gone tomorrow. I'll give you my new mobile number and if she wants to call, she can and if not it that is fine too." It did not matter if he came off cold and callous, as long as Ianto was kept safe then everyone could call him every horrible name in the book and Jack would be fine with that.

"But, Jack. This isn't right." Gwen protested.

"You are entitled to your opinion. I'm doing what's best for him. Your daughter has both her parents. My son doesn't. You always get so stuck in what your version of what you think is right that you never attempt to see the other side of things," Jack clenched his jaw, trying to temper his anger.

"What makes you think you are right?" Gwen challenged.

"My son. My rules. As a parent you should know how that works," Jack quickly scribbled his number on a piece of paper. "Goodbye, Gwen." Jack handed over the paper and tried to soothe his fussing child.

"You will always be an arse, Jack Harkness." Gwen narrowed her eyes. She did not understand why he wanted to do this alone.

"I know. The one thing my immortality can't heal is heart ache. That pain never goes away." Jack offered as his parting shot before he disappeared into the bedroom for father/son nap time.

**To be continued...**


	4. Chapter 4

**Title**: A Day in Cardiff (4/5)

**Author**: **iantojjackh**

**Rating**: PG-13

**Summary**: Follow up to A Day in Glasgow. Jack returns to Cardiff two years after Ianto's death with his and Ianto's son and finds that people are not happy to see him. Will they believe him about the boy's linage? Characters: Jack, Gwen, Rhys, Rhiannon

**Pairings**: Jack/Ianto (past), Gwen/Rhys

**Word Count**: ~1100

**Spoilers**: CoE compliant, but MD never happened

**Warning**: Angst and grief

**Beta**: SoR who still betas stuff for me on occasion even if he's never watched an episode of TW

**Notes**: Written for the Grief prompt at **hc_bingo**.

* * *

**_Chapter 4- The Truth is Hard to Swallow_**

Gwen slammed the door and let out a scream. The conversation with Jack played over in her head and she never wanted to throttle him more than ever.

"Everything okay, Gwenie?" Rhys popped his head from the kitchen. "We've got..."

"He's the most infuriating man I've ever known. I just wanted smack him." Gwen clenched her fists. "It's like he never bloody left."

"Who?" This was the first time in a very long time Rhys had seen his wife this worked up and Torchwood was usually the cause. "You found Jack, didn't you?"

"Yes. I forgot how mad he could make me. Wait how did you know?" The angry energy jump from her body.

"I tried to tell you that we had company," Rhys pointed to the kitchen where Rhiannon sat with her husband and kids.

"I thought you said you didn't know where Jack Harkness was. Have you been protecting him all this time?" There was betrayal in Rhiannon's eyes. She wondered what kind of power Jack had over people that made them follow him blindly.

"If I knew where he was I would not be this angry with him. I'm sorry I didn't say anything. When I saw him leave the cemetery I had a feeling where he was staying and I was right. I needed to know why Jack did what he did," Gwen sighed as she tried to read the expressions of Rhiannon and Johnny.

"Where has this tosser been all this time and do I need to get a gang from the estate to teach him a lesson?" Johnny had heard enough from his wife to know that this Jack person needed to be taught a lesson about how to treat people.

"Jack's been in Glasgow," Gwen looked to Rhys for support and sighed heavily. "The truth is stranger than fiction."

"Isn't that normal for Torchwood?" Rhys saw that he said too much with Gwen trying to stop him and the shocked looks on the Davies' faces.

"You were Torchwood?" Rhiannon looked in shock. It was just more secrets that had been kept from her. There were countless stories about the mysterious Torchwood and the spooky weirdness they were involved in. "This is why my brother died? Jack got him involved in the weirdness and it cost him his life?"

Gwen gritted her teeth, tired about being at the brunt of everyone's anger. "Ianto was involved with Torchwood long before he met Jack. The attack at Canary Wharf in London five years ago, Ianto was only one of twenty-seven people to survive. He came to Cardiff shortly after that." There was no use keeping Torchwood secrets anymore and if Rhiannon's reaction was any indication she had no clue what happened to Ianto in London.

"What did Jack say to you that got you upset? What did he say about the boy with him?" Rhiannon snapped, tired of all the stories and half-truths. She would never be able to forgive Jack for hurting her brother. The news that Ianto had survived the horrible terrorist attack shocked Rhiannon, it only showed more all the pain her brother had dealt with in his too short life and how little Ianto told her what was happening in his life.

Gwen paused and grimaced, knowing that she had to share a few truths about Jack first. "There are some things that are different about Jack from most people. He cannot die and he's originally from the future, the fifty-first century." She had to get those facts out first before she could explain Jack's pregnancy.

Johnny snorted with disbelief, "I thought you were going to tell us the truth."

Rhiannon stood up, "I've had enough of this. How can you stand here and lie to my face?"

"Gwen is telling the truth. I've seen Jack die a few times and come back to life moments later," Rhys added. He had been in their shoes years ago and would not believe it himself unless he did not see it with his own eyes.

"You people are all crazy. Certifiable." Rhiannon motioned for Mica and David to come. "We are going. I'm through with all this craziness and lies. You can all protect Jack Harkness all you want, but if I ever see that man again I will strangle him with my bare hands. I thought we were friends, Gwen."

Gwen let out a strangled cry when the door slammed, singling the exit of the angry family.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," Rhys tried to comfort his wife. "What did you find out from Jack?" he would believe the story, knowing all the insanity that surrounded Torchwood. "What is it?" Rhys held on tightly seeing how tough this day had been on Gwen.

"Rhiannon has Jack all wrong. I did too. We all thought he had played Ianto but the truth is Jack really really loved Ianto. Still does. He's still in so much pain over losing him. His son is the only thing that keeps him sane. Would you believe that in the fifty-first century you don't need a woman to have a baby?"

"What?" Rhys said with a laugh. This was a tough pill to swallow, but he learned that the impossible was possible where Torchwood was concerned.

"That's why the boy looks like Ianto. Jack named their son after him. There are bits of Jack in the kid, but there is so much more of Ianto. Anyone who knew Ianto can easily see the resemblance. Jack is hesitant about telling Rhiannon that the boy is her nephew," Gwen took several deep breaths and wiped her eyes. "Rhiannon is never going to know her nephew because she is too pissed at Jack for what she thinks he did and Jack thinks his son his going to be taken away from him if Rhiannon learns the truth." She cried into Rhys' shoulder. "Bloody freaking Torchwood."

"Is the boy well cared for?" Rhys always wondered what kind of parent Jack would be and that is all that mattered in the end was the welfare of the young child.

"Jack adores his son."

"Then leave Jack be." Rhys became the voice of reason like so many times. "When Jack and Rhiannon are ready they will say what needs to be said. You can't force them to talk before they are ready."

Gwen sighed, knowing her husband was right. This was none of her business and she had to find the power and will to step away and let things go.

**Tune in tomorrow for the gripping conclusion. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Title**: A Day in Cardiff (5/5)  
**Author**: iantojjackh  
**Rating**: PG-13  
**Summary**: Follow up to A Day in Glasgow. Jack returns to Cardiff two years after Ianto's death with his and Ianto's son and finds that people are not happy to see him. Will they believe him about the boy's linage? Characters: Jack, Gwen, Rhys, Rhiannon  
**Pairings**: Jack/Ianto (past), Gwen/Rhys  
**Word Count:** ~1300  
**Spoilers**: CoE compliant, but MD never happened  
**Warning**: Angst and grief  
**Beta**: SoR who still betas stuff for me on occasion even if he's never watched an episode of TW  
**Notes**: Written for the Grief prompt at hc_bingo.

* * *

**_Chapter 5- And Back to Glasgow We Go_**

Jack settled back into life in Glasgow and part of him was relieved that he had not heard from Rhiannon, whether it was because she did not believe the truth or there was another reason, it made life easier for the single father. Months passed by in a blink of an eye and in a week Ianto would turn two. It amazed Jack how quickly children grew up. Little Ianto started to express his very stubborn streak and some of his mannerisms were dead on Ianto Jones and it made Jack's heart ache more and at the same time bought back fond memories.

It was a rainy Saturday afternoon and it had rained for five days prior so the Harkness men begun to go stir crazy and needed a brief trip out of the house. Savoy Centre was a perfect choice, with shopping and other things to pass a few hours. Jack was carrying his son on his shoulders when they stopped at a stall that sold antiques as a silver stopwatch grabbed his attention.

"What do you think, Ianto? Looks like the one that belonged to your tad," Jack grinned up at his son as he took the stopwatch from the pocket of his waistcoat and showed it to the boy. "Do you want to hear the story of how we first met?"

Not expecting an answer, Jack moved Ianto from his shoulders to his hip. "I was chasing a Weevil in a park and then when I was fighting it, the Weevil got the upper hand and that's when your tad swooped in and saved the day. Just like a dashing handsome hero."

"Dada, down," Ianto whined and started to squirm. The toddler wanted to walk on his own.

"You have to hold hold my hand." Jack told his son. "No running. Deal?"

"OK, Daddy," Ianto squealed as he was finally on ground.

The father and son walked hand in hand for several minutes until Ianto suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked his son.

Ianto looked up at the older man with a mischievous smirk and used his finger to beckon Jack to him.

"Yes?" Jack crouched down to be on eye level with the grinning toddler.

"I love you, Daddy." Ianto giggled and launched himself into his father's arms, knocking Jack onto his backside.

"I love you too, Ianto." Jack hugged his saving grace tightly. "You think knocking me down is funny? I'll show you how funny it is." He started to tickle the child and both began to laugh uncontrollably. Jack did not care that people were staring.

"See Taddy?" Young Ianto asked as he reached for the stopwatch in Jack's pocket. Jack was always mentioning his namesake and the boy wanted to meet him.

"We can't see him." Jack said sadly.

"Why?"

"Because he's an angel. We can't see them, but angels see us. They watch us and protect us. Your Taddy is watching over us now and loves you very much and he's so proud of you." Jack knew the boy did not understand what he was saying, but it gave him comfort to think what he said was true.

Jack looked up when he saw a figure standing over him. When he lifted his head, the person standing there was the one of the last people he expected, but knew it had to happen eventually.

"You really are delusional. I thought you were just an egotistical jerk and now I just see you are totally nutters." Rhiannon looked down in sadness and pity at Jack.

"And you came all the way from Cardiff to tell me that? Bit of a long trip just to say that." Jack glared up at the woman who had a deep scowl on her face. "Frowning causes wrinkles." If the woman was going to hurl insults, two could play that game.

Rhiannon huffed with indignation.

"You started it by calling me crazy," Jack reasoned as he stood up and picked up Ianto, holding the boy protectively.

"Nooooooo. Down Daddyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy." Ianto cried and squirmed to get out of Jack's grasp.

"Not now. Not letting you down with all the people here." Jack whispered to his son. "You stop crying and I'll make you chicken nuggets when we get home."

"Okay," the small child stopped whimpering and wiped his face of Jack's shoulder.

Rhiannon, truth be told, did not know why she was here. It had been eight months since she stormed out of Gwen's house and that day gnawed at her ever since. She did not know why the toddler looked like her brother or had his name. Part of her was curious to learn the truth, but she knew it would not get it from Gwen.

"Why is it so hard for you people to tell the truth? Do you think I'm stupid or something? Seriously what kind of story is that you come from the fifty-first century and cannot die? Did you really expect me to believe that?" Rhiannon watched the interaction between the father and son. She would have found it sweet if she did not have a major sense of loathing for the man in front of her.

"For one it is the truth. Gwen did not lie to you. She was not making any of it up and if you have trouble believing that truth then the truth of where my son came from you are definitely not going to believe." Jack said simply. "And I'm fine with that."

"And what is the truth?" Rhiannon clenched her jaw. "Give me good reason why I should not smack the shit out of you for what you did to my brother."

"Now you suddenly care? I'm sure whatever you think what I did, it's far from the real truth." Jack said with an edge of menace. "What would you say if I told you that my son biologically has no mother because of when I'm from? That I was the one who carried him for nine months. That he is named for his other father who never got to know of his existence, but who will know everything about the amazing man that he's named after."

Rhiannon blinked several times to make sure she had heard the insanity correctly. She was not sure if she believed the craziness Jack had spouted. The only thing the confused woman was sure was that Jack cared and did still care deeply for Ianto.

Jack took the silence that Rhiannon did not believe him. "You have the truth. It's on you to believe it or not. If you ever want to get to know your nephew, you know where to find me." There was nothing else to say and Jack started to walk away.

Rhiannon wanted to call out to Jack. She wanted to believe what he was saying that the young boy was some way connected her brother. It was not possible for a anyone not to biologically have a mother. She felt nothing but pity Jack, believing the guilt over losing Ianto pushed him to fabricate this unfathomable tale that the child was her brother's son. The greatest mystery was how Jack managed to get the boy to look like Ianto. Could he have impregnated a woman with her brother's sperm and raise the kid as his? That would be just be even more twisted.

A tear rolled down her face as a Rhiannon watched them walk away. Only if she could believe the truth, she would have opened herself to a new world. But the inability to be open to the strange and wonderful would leave Rhiannon out of her nephew's life. She would never know what she is missing.

However, she did get the answer to one question that always haunted her, Ianto was truly loved in his final moments and that he would forever be in Jack's heart. And that was all she needed from Jack Harkness.

**The end!**


End file.
